We trained 18 refugee youth in Dadaab to do remote work last week, and they proved beyond a doubt that this is a viable form of income generation. Here’s a pic from one of our sessions:

The youth we trained, aged 18 to 27, showed they can complete web-based tasks from an IT center built by CARE in Dagahaley and Ifo Camps. Specifically, they were asked a yes/no question: given a company name and location, verify whether it has a website, and if so provide the URL. We set them up with @samasource.org email addresses, showed them how to complete the tasks for about an hour, and then gave them a URL where the tasks were pre-loaded into a simple interface created by Dolores Labs, an SF-based company.

The CARE International security officer gave me the following stats today: the camps in Dadaab are home to 275,000 people who are not allowed to have work permits. Their rations do not include sugar, meat, or firewood (because of a local shortage). They are getting desperate, especially the youth. Even $2 a day from remote work would make a huge difference in their lives.